Indian Air Force wants to procure 18 aircraft directly from a foreign vendor, while 96 more are to be made with the Indian partner
Sweden’s bid to sell its Gripen fighter plane for an upcoming ‘Make in India’ plan got substantial heft with senior industrialist Gautam Adani announcing a partnership to jointly manufacture the jet.
The announcement puts Adani Group in direct competition with Tata, which earlier announced a joint venture with Lockheed Martin for the F-16. They had signed a $15-billion deal to make planes in India.
The Air Force wants to procure 18 aircraft directly from a foreign vendor while 96 more are to be made with the Indian partner.
Announcing the plan, Saab Group president Hakan Bushke said that it had done a two-year study with the Adani Group for the collaboration and it was confident that the Indian company has the potential to undertake the project.
Adani defence head Ashish Rajvanshi told ThePrint that the company’s past record of venturing into the power and solar cell manufacturing sector gives it an edge. The executive said that the company has expertise in managing big projects as well as high-tech manufacturing.